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Ｘｕ　Ｘｉａｎｌｏｎｇ

Translated by Yu Chengfa & He Xinmin & Lu Wanying Photo by Li XiaoqinIn ancient China, the composition of a typical family was basically the same as the composition of the nation. Families, most scholars suggest, composed the backbone of ancient Chinese society; that culture was family centered, and the minority peoples helped form the foundation upon which society was built.

That is not necessarily the case, but the suggestion puts forward the concept that the family unit was the main feature of ancient Chinese culture and society.

Families, and the tradition of one's ancestors being sacred, are deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, which, in turn, manifests the intrinsic features of the family unit. For thousands of years, the family system in Chinese society has played a crucial role in the nation's cultural tradition, and, thus, has helped form the basis of China's traditional social structure. It continues to help shape the social property of Chinese people.

Over the past millennia, even though Chinese society has undergone turbulent times, including civil war and the division and reunification of the country, the family unit, with its system, has remained intact. It did not wither or fade away during those trying times; rather, "on the basis of blood ties, and through the combination of relations among the various regions and local people's varied interests, it formed a unified system that developed from family to clan. It penetrated the political, economic and cultural life at the basic level of society, and, hence, exerted a profound influence on traditional Chinese society," wrote Zheng Zhenman, in Family Organization and Social Transformations in Fujian Province in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

As a result, the study of family -- in terms of its internal structure, social function, mode of development and transformation tendencies -- has attracted the attention of anthropologists, sociologists and historians ever since the beginning of the 20th century. Why? This is a problem that cannot be avoided, especially in terms of the national condition, as China continues evolving into a modern society.

Fei Xiaotong, a renowned Chinese anthropologist and sociologist, once compared the relationship between nation and society to a series of "concentric circles."

That is, the family, or clan, which groups people together with common moral responsibilities, is the core, or center, of these concentric circles. Surrounding the center are neighboring villages and other, bigger concentric circles, which are administrative organizations, such as towns, counties or provinces. When confronted by the outside world, the Chinese tend to make the corresponding circles their top priorities. In other words, they protect their families, or clans, against the neighboring villages, neighboring villages against towns, and provinces or dialectal communities against the nation.

Muslims, since the later years of the Qing Dynasty, have strengthened their concept of family, or clan, amid the violent social turbulence in Northwest China. With this in mind, this dissertation outlines the transformation of a Muslim family during this turbulence. A Hui minority family was used for this case study.

The Wangs

More than 100 years ago, Zheherenye - the sect of Islam that was established in Northwest China in the 19th century -- were defeated, during an uprising led by Ma Hualong, by the Chinese government during the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911). Wang Ju, a member of the sect, fled from Yinchuan, capital of today's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, with his wife, eight sons and two daughters, and eventually settled down in Haizi Village, Muqiao Town, Lingwu City. The Wang family regarded that as the most miserable period in their life. The family managed to escape the cruel, vindictive prosecution by the Qing Government, on the one hand, and, on the other, had to raise 10 young children -- in poverty. They settled down along Qin Qu, a well-known hydraulic project during the Qin Dynasty (221B.C.-206 B.C.), and Wang Ju worked as a lookout at a melon field. During the scorching summer heat, he and his wife would take turns driving away mosquitoes or worms by making smoke or swinging fans at the door of the shed; during the freezing temperatures of winter, the couple placed a kang between them and wrapped themselves and their children in a quilt.

A couple of years later, when the Qing Government eased measures against the Muslims,Wang Ju moved to Ciyao Castle, or the Castle of Porcelain and Pit, where he rented a plot of land and allowed one of his daughters to get married.

Although he was not sure how he would benefit from the place, he was able to run a small guesthouse for wayward travelers. It is true that "God helps those who help themselves." One day during the summer of 1897, when Wang Wanjin (1869-1921), the eldest son, was taking his bull - some historians have said it was a horse -- home from the field, the animal got loose and went to the spring for a drink. On the run, the animal stumbled over a black object. Out of curiosity, Wang picked it up, took it home and through it into a fire. To his surprise, the object emitted bright flames. "It's charcoal!" his family exclaimed. They asked themselves why they couldn't make a living mining the coal, and soon began discussing how they could dig it out of the ground. Despite being poor, Wang Ju, given his prestige, was able to persuade several wealthy Hui and Han families to provide backing. The families agreed to invest money in Wang's proposed coal pit, and Wang agreed his eight sons would provide the manpower. Within three days of digging, Wang's sons had struck coal. They called it "Coal Pit of Renyihe," or the "Coal Pit of the Combination of Benevolence and Righteousness."

However, everything did not proceed smoothly. The pit collapsed, and Wang Cunfu, a nephew of Wang Ju's, died. He left behind a son, named Wang Guoqiang. Nevertheless, the charcoal-rich area had been discovered by a Hui family - that had survived an historic disaster.